The 1990s were really quite a decade for country music. Country pop was bubbling up, and traditional country was experiencing a revival of sorts during the decade. It really was a busy time for musicians in the genre, and a ton of amazing country songwriters made it big during the 90s. However, far too many of them are unheralded and did not get the recognition they deserved. Let’s look at just a few examples of talented songwriters that deserve way more love, shall we?
Doug Stone
Right from the get-go, Doug Stone was a country superstar. From 1990 to 1994, he recorded over a dozen songs that hit the Top 10 on the US country charts, as well as the Canadian charts. “I Never Knew Love” from 1993 made it to the Hot 100. While many of those songs were written by other artists, Stone also wrote quite a few songs himself, including “This Empty House”, “Addicted To A Dollar”, and “More Love”. He’s quite underrated, in my opinion.
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Bryan White
Country singer/songwriter Bryan White hit the top of the Billboard country charts on over a dozen occasions. “So Much For Pretending” was one of his written hits that made it to No. 1 on the country charts. Like Stone, a lot of his recorded work included songs penned by other songwriters, but the works he wrote himself are quite gorgeous, too.
Terri Clark
Remember Terri Clark? She was on the up-and-up in the 90s. Her first two albums were staples in any country-loving household in the mid-1990s. Some of her biggest hits were also co-written efforts, including “Better Things To Do”, “When Boy Meets Girl”, and “Emotional Girl. “If I Were You” and “Keeper Of The Flame” were just a couple of gorgeous tunes written by Clark exclusively. She really doesn’t get as much love as she deserves.
Suzy Bogguss
This entry on our list of underrated country songwriters had quite a heyday in the early 90s. Her third studio record, Aces, produced four chart-topping hits. Though Bogguss didn’t write those particular tunes, she did write the songs “Just Like The Weather” and “Hey Cinderella” in 1993, both of which cracked the Top 5. She also found success with the 1998 hit, “Somebody To Love”.
Photo courtesy of Suzy Bogguss
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